10,700 Gain Family Health Care Coverage

Thanks in large part to a LAANE and SEIU-led campaign to update the L.A. Living Wage Ordinance, thousands of workers and family members gained family healthcare coverage for the first time on January 19.

Last September, the Los Angeles City Council passed an amendment to the city’s living wage ordinance after LAANE, SEIU’s Airport Workers United, and the Reaching Higher for Healthcare Coalition waged a campaign to update the ordinance to account for family health care costs.

“I can’t express how important this is for me and my family,” said Claudia DeLeon, a security officer at the airport and a member of SEIU’s Airport Workers United. “I have thousands of dollars of debt because I had no insurance when my two year old son was bit in the face by a dog. But, at least now I know that we will be able to see a doctor when we need to.”

In December, Airport Workers United announced new union contracts providing family medical, dental and vision coverage for airline contracted workers at LAX.  The contract benefits more than 2,500 workers and an estimated 3,200 family members.

Another 2,200 workers and their 2,800 family members received access to family health coverage because of the amendment to the ordinance, bringing the total benefiting from the amendment to 10,700.

The living wage amendment, which went into effect this month, increased the amount employers may devote to healthcare from $1.25 to $4.50 per hour.  Now airport workers must either be paid an hourly wage of $10.30 per hour plus health insurance or $14.80 without health insurance.

“Airport workers are responsible for everything from cleaning and searching airplanes to assisting passengers with disabilities—jobs which expose them to injuries and illnesses, including infectious diseases,” said Carolina Briones, director of LAANE’s airline services project.  “It’s only right that they and their families have access to quality health care.”

Before passage of the LAANE policy, many airport workers relied on state and county assistance—and many had no healthcare at all. The update to the living wage means that they are now able to receive medical care, including regular check-ups, vision and dental care.

Their employer-provided coverage means that they no longer must seek out public assistance, which reduces the number of people seeking state and county care during a time when more and more people are relying on the public safety net for help.